As medical device technologies continue to evolve, active implanted medical devices have gained increasing popularity in the medical field. For example, one type of implanted medical device includes neurostimulator devices, which are battery-powered or battery-less devices that are designed to deliver electrical stimulation to a patient. Through proper electrical stimulation, the neurostimulator devices can provide pain relief for patients or restore bodily functions.
Implanted medical devices (for example a neurostimulator) can be controlled using an electronic programming device such as a clinician programmer or a patient programmer. These programmers can be used by medical personnel or the patient to define the particular electrical stimulation therapy to be delivered to a target area of the patient's body, alter one or more parameters of the electrical stimulation therapy, or otherwise conduct communications with a patient. In some cases, these electronic programmers allow the creation and display of pain maps and stimulation maps as part of the pain diagnosis and communication with the patient. However, these pain/stimulation maps may be relatively large in size (i.e., contains a large amount of data). As a result, they are not suitable for storage on electronic devices with limited storage capacity. The lack of storage flexibility for existing pain/stimulation maps limits the effectiveness of using these maps and may also drive up diagnostic costs.
Therefore, although existing neurostimulation devices and methods have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect.